Study: Communications Towers Killing 6.8 Milllion Birds Per Year

April 26, 2012 at 4:51 AM (PT)

A study funded by a group of environmental organizations estimates that the 84,000 communications towers across NORTH AMERICA kill about 6.8 million migratory birds a year, which the study says is up from 1 million in 1979, reports POSTMEDIA NEWS. The present number is said to be 27 times more than caused by the EXXON Valdez spill.

The study, led by TRAVIS LONGCORE of USC and the URBAN WILDLANDS GROUP and funded in part by the AMERICAN BIRD CONSERVANCY and DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE, proposes that replacing steady-burning red lights with blinking lights on taller towers would cut mortality by about 45%, and that guyless towers would also reduce mortality.